He'd sat in the dark-wood pews here a week ago, marveling at the 1,000 people who packed the church to say goodbye to his teenage daughter.

"She would say she had no friends, but she touched so many lives," Brian Loncar wrote on Facebook the next day, describing the intensity of "both the pain and love that the suicide of a 16 year old girl causes."

Grace Loncar (Family photo)

On Friday, mourners again filled the stained-glass chapel at Munger Place Church. This time, they were there to honor Loncar, who was known to the community through his outsize personality as the "Strong Arm" personal-injury lawyer on TV ads.

But those close to him also knew he was a dedicated husband and father with a spirit full of generosity, tenacity and humor.

Outside the church, a tow truck with Loncar's face on the side hung an American flag. Inside, a screen above his casket flashed photos of the Loncar family — of vacations abroad, fishing trips, opening gifts in pajamas on Christmas morning and the day Brian married his wife, Sue.

Loncar, 56, was found dead Sunday, two days after burying his daughter, Grace. While the cause of his death isn't yet official — toxicology tests are pending — his friends and family said he was heartbroken over losing his youngest child.

A photo of Brian Loncar was attached to a Big Daddy's Wrecker & Recovery truck outside his funeral at Munger Place Church in Dallas on Friday. (Jae S. Lee/Staff Photographer)

"Brian Loncar died Sunday because of a broken heart because of Grace," Mike McCurley, a lawyer and close friend, said at the funeral. Hours before his death, Loncar texted McCurley about attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting together Monday.

Now, McCurley told the audience, he pictured Brian and Grace together in heaven, sitting at a table with God, helping craft "a better marketing system for Christianity."

"I can't wait to see what that is," McCurley said.

Loncar was the one to find his daughter's body, Sue Loncar said. In the days afterward, Brian had told Sue he wasn't sure he could keep living. Yet he also pledged to take time off work and find a way for them to be happy again.

He found a sense of purpose in starting a foundation in Grace's name to help other families fight depression and prevent suicide. He spoke excitedly to friends about the cause — no one thought it would soon become the Grace and Brian Loncar Foundation.

A screenshot of the Grace and Brian Loncar Foundation website.

The Loncars have long dealt with mental health issues. Grace, a talented actress and singer at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, had battled depression since age 11. Brian Loncar had struggled with bipolar disorder, depression and alcoholism, his loved ones said at the funeral.

But, they said, Loncar refused to let those wars define him. He instead pursued the highest levels of success he could, always with a sense of humor and unwavering drive. He overcame a near-fatal crash with a firetruck in 2008 to run a triathlon, and fought back with a lawsuit against the city.

Pallbearers carried the casket of Brian Loncar down the front steps of the Munger Place Church following his funeral in Dallas on Friday. (Jae S. Lee/Staff Photographer)

Pallbearers carry a casket of Brian Loncar to a hearse following his funeral at Munger Place Church in Dallas, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. The late Dallas lawyer Brian Loncar died on Sunday, two days after the funeral for his 16-year-old daughter Grace Loncar, who committed suicide late last month. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)

(Staff Photographer)

Pallbearers carry a casket of Brian Loncar to a hearse following his funeral at Munger Place Church in Dallas, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. The late Dallas lawyer Brian Loncar died on Sunday, two days after the funeral for his 16-year-old daughter Grace Loncar, who committed suicide late last month. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)

(Staff Photographer)

He was an entrepreneur from a young age, buying a soda machine in college and converting it to a beer machine for handsome profits, his family said in his obituary.

He was a generous person who left huge tips, remembering how hard his job as a waiter at TGI Friday's was after college. He donated golfing trips and weekends at his lake house to Dallas firefighters, said Dr. Alex Black, one of Loncar's best friends. Last month, Loncar paid the tab for 20 people at his birthday dinner, sneaking off before anyone could notice, Black said.

Brian Loncar, a.k.a. The Strong Arm, advertised his legal services in a commercial with Sweet Brown, the "Ain't Nobody Got Time For That" lady.

((YouTube))

ORG XMIT: *S0424813203* Tuesday, November 11, 2008---- Dallas attorney Brian Loncar, who has made a name for himself with personal injury cases, is now seeking a settlement in his on case after being injured in May when a fire truck collided with his 2008 Bentley in the Oak Lawn.

ORG XMIT: *S0424813099* Tuesday, November 11, 2008---- Dallas attorney Brian Loncar, who has made a name for himself with personal injury cases, is now seeking a settlement in his on case after being injured in May when a fire truck collided with his 2008 Bentley in the Oak Lawn.

(136426)

ORG XMIT: *S0424812933* Tuesday, November 11, 2008---- Dallas attorney Brian Loncar, who has made a name for himself with personal injury cases, is now seeking a settlement in his own case after being injured in May when a fire truck and his 2008 Bentley collided in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas.

(136426)

But Black said his best friend was not the same after his daughter's suicide.

"Unfortunately, I deal with death every day," said Black, an emergency room doctor. "And I've never seen such grief in a grown man."

Loncar's older sister, Jillian Brade, recalled receiving a phone call from an excited Brian on the day he met his wife, Sue.

"Oh my God, you won't believe who just walked into my office — the tallest, most beautiful woman in the world," she remembered him saying. "I saw her walk in and I was in a meeting, and I turned and said, 'The meeting is over.' "

Brian and Sue called each other their soul mates. They had each been married twice before — their wedding invitations joked "third time's a charm," according to his obituary.

"He'd want us to be strong, united and the best versions of ourselves," Brade said. "And he'd also want us to celebrate his life."

Cards in memory of Brian Loncar awaited guests during a visitation Thursday at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home in Dallas. (Andy Jacobsohn/Staff Photographer)

To donate to the Grace and Brian Loncar Foundation, see the website here.